


Sneaking Behind Doors

by Fisticuffsandjapery



Category: Emmerdale
Genre: M/M, robron - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-01
Updated: 2016-03-01
Packaged: 2018-05-24 05:38:41
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,625
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6143236
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fisticuffsandjapery/pseuds/Fisticuffsandjapery
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Liv Livesy makes it her mission to dig up some dirt on Robert Sugden.</p><p>She ends up matchmaking instead.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sneaking Behind Doors

**Author's Note:**

> Set three or four months into the future.
> 
> Liv has moved in with Aaron and Chas.

Liv repeatedly kicked the stupid sofa in the living room at Robert’s house as she stubbed her toe.  She bit her lip from swearing too loudly.  After all, she was technically breaking in to Robert _flipping_ Sugden’s place.  The man that couldn’t stop making heart eyes at her brother.  He was so obvious.  Acting like he was Aaron’s best mate when everyone in a five mile radius could see that he just wanted in Aaron’s pants.

Well she wasn’t going to let him.  Aaron had her protecting him from people like that.

Liv wasn’t stupid.  She’d been checking him out.  Sugden had a past.  And according to Aaron’s mam and uncle Cain, Robert had been engaged to a woman when he was carrying on with Aaron.  Her big brother didn’t need someone like that around him.

She just needed some more dirt on him.

She held her breath when she heard muffled voices in the kitchen.  Bingo!  Getting up, she silently snuck closer to the doorway and wedged herself between the wall and the door, hidden from sight.  She looked through the crack in the door.

Robert’s sister put down a mug of tea in front of her brother.  “Come on Robert.  It’s not just going to go away you know,”

Robert took a sip.  “Well then I’m just going to have to ignore it.”

“You love him.  You can’t just ignore that,” pressed Victoria.

“I’m going to damn well try.”  Liv heard Robert sighed before he ran a hand through his hair.

“You can’t help who you fall for!” Victoria insisted.  The younger sibling reached out for a chocolate digestive and dunked it in her tea.  Liv willed her own tummy not to growl.  She was starving.

“I know that.  You’re the one that ended up with Adam Barton as your husband,” Robert quipped, jokily.

Victoria feigned offence.  “Err who happens to be your dream man’s best mate!  Look, Rob, I can’t pretend to know what was going through your head when you were sneaking around behind Chrissie’s back, but I know you love him.  The last six months have proved that.”

Robert shrugged.  “Yeah well, it’s not up to me is it?”

“You know full well he loves you.  Adam practically told me about their conversation the other day.  He’s just waiting for you to make the first move after you turned him down last time.  What were you thinking?”

Robert shook his head.  “I was trying to do the decent thing, Vic!  He was vulnerable back then.  I just-  I really I wanted us to be together properly.”

“So?”  Victoria Barton raised her eyebrows at her brother as if she didn’t understand why they would chose to be apart when they clearly wanted to be together.

“No, Vic.”

“Why!?” She almost shouted impatiently.

“Liv’s is stopping with Aaron and Chas now.”

Victoria’s confusion just grew. “Why is that a problem?”

Robert looked at her as if she was stupid.  Liv almost snickered.  “She hates my guts.”

Vic rolled her eyes.  “She’s a kid.  She’ll get over it.”

“No Vic.  He’s just got her back in his life.  I’m not going to be the one that messes that up.  He needs her.  She might look like a little tearaway, but she’s got half a chance with Aaron looking out for her.”

Liv froze, was Robert saying something halfway decent about her?

“You got a soft spot for her?  Or has my big brother grown up so much that he is actually willing to sacrifice his own happiness for a person he loves,” Victoria leaned over to pinch her older brother’s cheek.

Robert batted her hand away.  “Aaron deserves to be happy.  And since Liv has been around, it’s the happiest I’ve seen him in a while.”

From behind the door, Liv glanced at her shoes.  Did Robert really mean that?  She really hoped Robert meant that.

She watched as Victoria gave him a defeated look.  “Even if it means you might never be together?”

Robert didn’t say anything more and Liv saw Robert’s sister pull him in for a hug.

“I’m proud of you Robert Sugden, you know that?” Victoria muffled into Robert’s wavy hair.

Aaron’s sister decided it was the perfect time to let herself out the back door.

* * *

 

Liv did up her seatbelt and watched her brother drive for a good five minutes.  He was taking her to school on the way to see a potential buyer.

Aaron broke the silence first.  “What?”

“Just thinking,” she offered.

Aaron made a face.  His sister could be weird when she wanted to be.  “About?”

“Robert Sugden,” she said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Aaron paused for a few moments before frowning.  “Why?”

“Just thinking I might have got him wrong.  He’s not bad looking, you know.”

“You’ve hated him since you’ve known him and now what?  You suddenly fancy him?”  Aaron almost laughed out the last bit.  Did his little sister have a crush on his ex?

“No, but you do,” Liv said matter-of-factly.

“What?  No I don’t,” Aaron managed to stumble out, unconvincingly.

His sister corrected him.  “Yeah you do.  It’s so obvious.”

Aaron shook his head.  “You don’t know what you are talking about Liv.  We’re just mates.”

Liv scoffed.  “And you must be blind if you haven’t seen the way he stares at you.  The guy is pathetically in love with you.  Besides, you could do a lot worse that Robert Sugden, you know.”

“Since when were you Robert’s number one fan?” Aaron said defensively.

Liv shrugged as if to say it wasn’t important.  “Just ask him out for a drink in town.  Say it was my idea.”

“But-”

“Just do it, Aaron!” she said as if she was talking to a young child and not a grown man.

Grabbing her rucksack from the back seat she got out of the car.  “If you don’t, I’ll ask him for you!” she said, before slamming the door closed, leaving a stunned Aaron to drive to his meeting.

* * *

 

Aaron felt his phone buzz.  It was a message from Liv.

“DO IT!!!!”

He glanced back at the pub and found his sister in the window nodding her head to her left.  He followed her gaze and suddenly felt nervous.  Robert was walking towards him.

Aaron offered a small smile.  “Hey.”

Robert turned up the corners of his mouth in return.  “How’s it going?  Liv keeping you on your toes?”

“Yeah, something like that.”

“You seem happy.  Smiling looks good on you,” Rob said easily, with a smirk.

Aaron heart rate picked up.  Fuck.  Was he flirting?  He hesitated.  What if Robert rejected him again?  “I…er…yeah.”

The blonde man frowned slightly at Aaron’s obvious discomfort.  “Ok, well I better get back to Vic.  Just popped out for some milk,” he said lifting up the small carton before heading towards the home he shared with Vic and Adam.

Aaron balled up his fists.  “Wait.”

“Yeah?” the other man said turning back around, almost hopefully.

Aaron took a sharp breath in.  “Do you want to go for a drink in town later?”

Robert wasn’t expecting that.  “I-”

“Like as a date?”  Aaron added.  So there was no misunderstanding.

Robert didn’t say anything for what felt like forever.  He didn’t know quite what to say.  He really wanted to say yes but then he remembered back to the conversation that he had had with Victoria the day before.  “I don’t think-”

Aaron nodded, not wanting to here the rest of whatever Robert’s reply was going to end with. His tone came out a little cold. “Don’t worry.  It was a stupid idea.  Liv was just putting things in my head and I-”

Robert interrupted.  “This was Liv’s idea?”

Aaron clenched his jaw.  “Yeah.  She’s suddenly decided that you’re the perfect guy for me,” he said sarcastically.

“We’re talking about the same Liv?  Your sister?”  Robert couldn’t quite believe what he was hearing.

“Apparently, she’s the president of the We-Heart-Robert-Sugden Club.”

“She’s got good taste,” Robert smirked.

Aaron couldn’t help smirk back.  “She seems to think you fancy me something rotten.”

“Oh really?”  Robert’s smirk grew as he could feel Aaron ease into the conversation.

“Yeah.  She reckons you can’t keep your eyes of me,” Aaron said in a braver tone, this time holding his ex lover’s gaze.  

Robert didn’t even bother to hide the want in his eyes.  “I wonder where she got that idea?”

“Even went as far as to say you probably love me-”

“You wish,” Robert said automatically.

“And so what if I do?” Aaron answered back just as quickly.

The honest omission took Robert by surprise.

Aaron held out the silence for as long as he could.  “Are you not going to say anything?”

“You’ve already heard it,” Robert said, repeating what Aaron had said to him the previous year.

Aaron gave him a small grin in recognition.  “Fair enough, I can wait.”

“So can I,” Robert said truthfully.  “About tonight…”

“Didn’t think you were interested,” Aaron shoved his hands into his hoodie pockets and faking that it was no big deal.

“Yeah well, I can’t let Liv down.”  Robert said as he glanced behind the shorter man.  “You know she’s staring at us through at window, don’t you?”

Aaron groaned.

Robert backed away slowly not wanting to break eye contact.  “I’ll pick you up at seven.  And wear that navy suit if you want me to keep my eyes on you all night.”

Aaron laughed loudly.  “I wouldn’t hold your breath, mate,” he retorted.

* * *

 

Come that evening, Aaron let a beaming Liv straighten the jacket of his navy suit and shove him out of the door when she saw Robert walking up the path.


End file.
